Friday, September 03, 2004

Mapping the Galaxy.Here I was recently talking about mapping kid's neighborhoods as an example of how small in scope geography can get. The smallest mapping project ever has been the mapping of the human genome. Now we see an example going in the other direction, as the large radio telescope in Puerto Rico, known as Arecibo, is on project to map the known galaxy.

The radio telescope, the world's most sensitive listening device that is powerful enough to hear planets forming several billion lights years away, received six more radio receivers to expand its range.

The project will take at least 2 years because other projects are going on at the same time that utilize the telescope. I'm glad that this mapping won't bully those other important useful, scientific projects. Oh, wait:

However, the process is likely to take at least two years to allow other astronomers to work on other projects like searching for extraterrestrial life, he said.